Padded Weight Lifting Short

ABSTRACT

A padded clothing article such as a short has a pad positioned on the front of the clothing article where the position of the pad is such that the pad covers the pubic bone of the individual wearing the short for protection during athletic exercise such as a snatch lift or gymnastic exercise. The pad is flexible so as not to constrict movement during the exercise while still providing protection against contact with the bar or other object along the pelvic region of the wearer.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a padded clothing article designed to protect the human body from impact. More particularly this invention relates to a padded clothing article such as a short, pant or brief designed to protect the pubic bone and/or groin area during various exercises including weight lifting exercises such as a “snatch,” and/or gymnastics exercises referred to as “bars” or “uneven bars.”

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A snatch is a type of weight lifting exercise that involves lifting a weighted bar from the floor and up over the head of the weight lifter. This lift is commonly referred to as an Olympic lift because it is typically featured in Olympic and other international weight lifting competitions. As shown in FIG. 12, there are various phases to the lift that are sometimes referred to as the pull (A), drop (B) and recovery (C) phases. Approximately between the pull and drop phases, the bar may contact the pelvic region of the weight lifter. In many cases, this contact occurs on or near the pubic bone and above the location of the human genitalia, for example at the pubic symphysis. This contact can be a substantial force that can cause discomfort, bruising, fractures or other injuries that may limit the weight lifter's ability to perform the snatch lift.

Although the snatch lift is referred to as an “Olympic” lift, many fitness enthusiasts may complete these exercises or sets of these exercises. For example, part of a fitness workout may include 3 sets of 10 repetitions with a moderate weight load. Other workouts may include “max” where an individual will attempt to lift the highest weight they can manage. In both cases, contact by the bar around the pubic bone area can be painful and can cause injuries.

In addition to Olympic lifts, other exercises can result in contact near the pubic region. For example, “muscle ups” include a pull-up initially and then upon reaching the top of the pull-up, the user pushes their body above the bar such that at the top of the exercise, the bar traverses the pelvis of the user and the bar contacts the pelvic region or pubic symphysis. Other examples of painful bar contact include gymnastics exercises or routines such as bars or uneven bars, specifically, exercises where the gymnast rotates around one bar and transfers to the other bar and “catches” themselves around their torso, causing significant bar contact in the pubic region.

In some cases, this bruising and injury can make it difficult or impossible for an individual to properly perform the lift or exercise. Further, these injuries can prevent the individual from performing the lift or exercise all together.

Various forms of padded shorts are available for sports such as football, and an example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,095,996, however none of these currently available shorts allow for adequate movement for the wearer while providing proper protection from bar contact and the associated pain and bruising.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a clothing article having a pad for protecting a weight lifter from bar contact in the front pelvic region.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a padded compression short/pant/brief that protects the weight lifter from injury during the snatch exercise.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a padded clothing article that protects the wearer from bar contact and the associated pain and bruising in the pelvic region during various exercises that are susceptible to such bar contact. Some exercises include the “snatch” lift, “muscle-ups” and gymnastics routines performed on bars or uneven bars.

These and other objects are achieved by providing a padded short having a pad positioned on the front of a short where the position of the pad is such that the pad covers the pubic bone of the individual wearing the short. The short may include a pouch for inserting a removable pad. In yet other aspects, the short is made of a form fitting material such as lycra, spandex, nylon, polyester, cotton or combinations thereof. The form fitting short and the integrated pad or pad pouch positions the pad properly over the pubic bone area.

In one aspect a clothing article is provided with a pad for protecting the wearer during a weight lifting exercise. The clothing article may include a front face and a rear face located between two side sections. A crotch section may join the front face and the rear face to define a closed crotch area adapted to cover a genitalia of the wearer. A padding section may be disposed on the front face and terminating at left and right sides such that the left and right sides are located on the front face wherein the padding section is adapted to cover a region of the wearer defined between a waist and a pubic symphysis of the wearer such that a bottom of the padding section is located such that the padding section covers the pubic symphysis and the padding section extends towards the waist.

A width of the padding section may be smaller than a height of the padding section. The padding section may be disposed between two layers of fabric. The padding section may further comprise a base section and a plurality of pad elements extending from said base section such that each of the plurality of pad elements are separated from each other to form a void. The void may be between the plurality of pad elements and further located between a top surface of said base section and a top surface of one of the plurality of pad elements. The padding section may be disposed between two layers of fabric. The padding section may include a plurality of pad elements joined to at least one of the two layers of fabric such that each of the plurality of pad elements are separated from each other to form a void. The void may be between the plurality of pad elements the two layers of fabric. Two face sections may respectively cover left and right front upper thigh regions of the wearer wherein the padding section is disposed between the two face sections and above the crotch section without covering the two face sections.

A waist section may be defined at an end of the clothing article and including a lower and an upper edge. The padding section may terminate at the lower edge. The padding section may terminate between the lower and upper edges. The front face may be defined by a seam extending around an edge of the front face wherein the seam joins the front face to the two side sections. The padding section may be of an area smaller than the front face. A second seam may be disposed in the front face and located around the padding section such that an outer layer of fabric is joined to the front face at the second seam and the padding section is located between the outer layer of fabric and the front face.

The padding section may include a pad made of a compressible material having a glass transition temperature which is strain rate dependent such that when the pad is compressed, the glass transition temperature increases to thereby increase a rigidity of the pad.

In other aspects a method of protecting a weight lifter during a weight lifting exercise is provided and may include one or more of the steps of: providing a clothing article with fabric adapted to be disposed over front, rear, side and crotch sections of the weight lifter; providing a front mounted protective pad on the clothing article, the pad extending from the front of the clothing article and positioned over a location on the weight lifter such that when the weight lifter holds a bar with arms extended downward, the bar extends across a torso of the weight lifter and the pad is located between the torso of the weight lifter and the bar; and compressing the pad upon contact with the bar, the compression of the pad reducing a magnitude of a force impulse against the weight lifter at the location due to contact with the bar.

The weight lifting exercise may be a snatch exercise and the compressing step may occur during a phase of the snatch exercise where the bar is closest to the torso of the weight lifter. The method may further include providing a waist band on the clothing article having upper and lower edges. The front mounted protective pad may extend from the location and terminate at the lower edge. The front mounted protective pad may extend from the location and may terminate between the upper and the lower edge. The contact with the bar occurs over a vertical contact line such that the location extends along the contact line.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front isometric view of a padded short.

FIG. 2 is another front isometric view of the padded short of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the padded short of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a right side view of short of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a rear isometric view the short of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the short of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is another front view of the short of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is another rear view short of FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a front view of another version of the short in FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a rear view of the short in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a side view of the short in FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is a representation of a weight lifting exercise.

FIG. 13 is an isometric view of a pad for the short of FIGS. 1-11.

FIG. 14 is a cross section view of FIG. 7 along line 14-14.

FIG. 15 is a cross section view of FIG. 3 along line 15-15 showing an alternate version of the pad of FIGS. 13-14.

FIG. 16 shows the location of the pad of the short shown in FIG. 1 over the human pelvic bone.

FIG. 17-19 respectively show front isometric, front and rear isometric views of a long pants version of the short in FIG. 1

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 12, the snatch exercise typically starts with a weight lifting bar resting on the floor or other object. The lifter grasps the bar, typically with an overhand grip (palms facing lifter). The lift typically begins with a primarily leg intensive movement with support through the core, trunk, shoulders and arms. As the bar is lifted towards the lifter's waist, the bar is held close to the body.

The next phase of the lift typically involves using the momentum of the bar to allow the lifter to drop under the bar. In order to accomplish this, the lifter's shoulders will typically be pulled behind the hips of the lifter, which may cause the bar to contact the pubic bone or pelvic region. As previously discussed, this contact can cause discomfort, pain, bruising and other injuries.

The bar impact may occur at the pubic symphysis 1 of the wearer. FIG. 16 shows a representation of the human pelvis and the pad 2 of the short is shown covering the pubic symphysis 1. In FIGS. 1-8 the pad 2 is located on the front face 4 of the short. The front face may be defined between seams 16 and 18. Side sections 6, 8 of the short are connected to the front face. Although side sections 6/8 and the front face 4 are shown as separate pad elements of fabric joined at seams 16/18, it is understood that these sections may be formed on a continuous sheet of fabric and a seamless design may be employed to form the short.

A longitudinal object such as the bar 20 (See FIG. 1) lays across the pad 2 with the human's arms outstretched downwardly. This may be approximately at the beginning of phase B as shown in FIG. 12. The lower end 22 of the pad covers the pubic symphysis 1 of the wearer and the pad 2 extends towards the bottom 24 of the waistband. Although not shown, the pad 2 may extend to the top of the waistband 26. The contact with the bar may occur initially at or above the pubic symphysis 1 and may extend vertically along a contact region which is covered and protected by the pad 2.

Below the lower end 22 of the pad is the crotch section 14 of the short which covers the genitalia of the wearer. The crotch section 14 as shown joins to the rear face 10 of the short and to the inner leg sections of the short.

Referring to FIGS. 9-11, a padded short is shown with pad 2 on the front face of the short. The pad covers part of the front face and terminates before reaching the upper thigh regions 28/30. The pad 2 extends from the pubic symphysis 1 of the wearer towards the waist and extends between bottom 24 and top 26 edges of the waist band. A seam 30 extends around the perimeter of the pad and may hold the pad in place.

In FIG. 13, one version of the padding material is shown. The pad includes a base 34 and a number of padding sections 36 extending from the base. Voids 38 are located between the padding sections 36. The voids allow the padding sections 36 to flex and the base section keeps the bottom of the padding sections 36 located at fixed positions relative to each other. FIG. 14 shows a cross section view of the padding material in FIG. 13 installed in the short. Adhesive 44 may bond the base 34 to the inner layer 40 of fabric. The outer layer 42 of fabric covers the padding sections 36 and seam 30 extends around the pad to contain the padding material in the appropriate location. Although not shown, adhesive may be located between the outer layer 42 of fabric and the top of the padding sections 36. As shown, the top layer 42 of fabric can slide relative to the top of the padding sections 36 which may enable further flexibility of the pad.

Other types of pads are contemplated. For example, a pad shown in FIG. 15 is made up of a number of individual pad elements 46 may be used where each piece has adhesive on either end such that adhesive 52 is located between the outer layer 48 and the pad elements 46 and further adhesive 52′ is located between the inner layer 50 and the pad elements 46. This creates a number of voids 54 between the pad elements 46. The fabric that connects pad elements 46 together can flex and allow the padding to move with the movement of the wearer while still providing protection from impact.

The short may be made of an elastic or stretchable fabric that may help hold the pad in its horizontal and/or vertical orientation relative to the lifter's body. The short may be designed to provide compression or support to the lifter. In some cases, a mixture of fabrics and material having a range of elasticities can be placed in various locations on the short to provide different compressive levels in different areas of the short to provide a compression short integrated with the padded short.

In some cases, the pad may be disposed between two or more layers of fabric. In yet other cases, the outer layer located on the outer face of the padded region may be made of multiple layers in order to improve wear characteristics. In other cases, a resilient material layer may be bonded to the pads. It is also understood that the resilient material layer can be made up of a plurality of sections of resilient material, with each section bonded to or affixed in an area proximate to the plurality of pad elements 46 or padding sections 36. The resilient material may be a plastic such as ABS, PVC or other. Further, phenolic plates made of a composite material such as phenolic resin and paper or other fiber reinforced polymer material. The resilient material may be bonded between sections of the pad. For example a cross section of a pad could include multiple layers such as a first padded layer, a second resilient layer and a third padded layer. It is understood that other combinations of padded and resilient layers may be used.

The pad or sections of the pad can be made of a number of materials or combinations and layers thereof. These materials are compressible in order to absorb the weight lifting bar's contact force. Some of these materials may include foam, rubber, latex, polystyrene, ABS, PVC, Polyethylene, plastics, gel, composites, resins or other. These materials may be used alone or in combination. Further these materials may be mixed or layered in order to provide a pad having the desired protective, compressive and flexibility characteristics. The voids 38/54 of the pad allow for increased flexibility.

The short may be designed with a pouch in the front for receiving a padding material. For example, the seam 30 may have an open end or side. This end/side may use a hook and loop fastening system to close the pad. For example, “Velcro.” In the example where the pad is releasably secured to the short, the lifter may re-position the pad for optimal placement. Further the inner area of the pouch may have two surfaces facing each other. One or both of these facing surfaces may include part of the releasable securing system. For example, the hook section. The pad may include a loop section on two of its surfaces. When the pad is inserted into the short, the hook and loop sections can come into contact to secure the pad to the short.

The pads may be bonded to one or more layers of fabric using a glue such as a thermo set, thermo plastic or other type of bonding material. In other cases, the pads may be located between and sewn directly to one or more layers of the short. Around the outer perimeter of the padded region is a seam 30 that secures the inner layer of fabric to the outer layer of fabric.

In some embodiments, the width of the pad may be smaller than the height of the pad. In other embodiments, the width of the pad may be larger than the height of the pad. In yet other embodiments the height and width may be approximately equal.

The outer layer of fabric may be made of the same material as the rest of the short in some cases. In other cases, the outer layer of the pad can be made of a wear resistant material such as canvas, denim, or nylon. Such abrasion resistant materials may also include nylon-dayeema, aramid, cordura or others.

A resilient layer may be placed between the pad and the outer layer of fabric. In other cases, the resilient layer may be placed on the outer layer of fabric such that the resilient layer is exposed.

The padding material may have a strain rate dependent compressibility such that upon impact from the weight lifting bar, a glass transition temperature of the pad increases to thereby decrease the compressibility of the pad. As an example, some gyms may have a temperature of 70° F. The human wearing the short may have a normal body temperature of 98.6° F. The temperature of the pad may be approximately between 70° and 100°, as an example. In this range, the glass transition temperature of the pad may be well below the actual temperature of the pad. For example, the glass transition temperature may be 0° F. This allows the pad to be flexible and have an initial level of compressibility. By using a material with a strain rate dependent compressibility, the glass transition temperature of the pad may change when the pad is compressed (ie strain). The glass transition temperature of the pad may increase by 50-200° in response to contact with the bar. This causes the pad to have a lower compressibility as strain increases because the glass transition temperature is higher than the actual temperature when strain is imposed on the pad. Such a property allows the pad to remain flexible during phase (A) shown in FIG. 12 and for the pad to become less flexible at the beginning of phase (B) where contact occurs. When contact pressure is reduced between the bar and the pad, the glass transition temperature of the pad decreases back towards its rest state which allows more flexibility of the pad during the end of phase (B) and through phase (C) of the lift.

FIGS. 17-19 show a long pants version of the padded clothing article it is understood that although the leg sections of the pants extend to the ankles, other lengths of pants may be used, for example, calf height “capri” style pants and other lengths may be employed.

A short and pant version have been described and shown herein, however this disclosure is not limiting to shorts and pants only. In one example, a brief or unitard configuration may be employed to provide the padding effect described herein. Other clothing articles employing the padding described herein would be apparent to one of skill in the art.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particular arrangement of parts, features and the like, these are not intended to exhaust all possible arrangements or features, and indeed many other modifications and variations will be ascertainable to those of skill in the art. It should be noted that, while various functions and methods have been described and presented in a sequence of steps, the sequence has been provided merely as an illustration of one advantageous embodiment, and that it is not necessary to perform these functions in the specific order illustrated. It is further contemplated that any of these steps may be moved and/or combined relative to any of the other steps. In addition, it is still further contemplated that it may be advantageous, depending upon the application, to utilize all or any portion of the functions or combinations of functions described herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A clothing article with a pad for protecting the wearer during an exercise comprising: a front face and a rear face located between two side sections; a crotch section joining the front face and the rear face to define a closed crotch area adapted to cover a genitalia of the wearer; a padding section disposed on the front face and terminating at left and right sides such that the left and right sides are located on the front face wherein the padding section is adapted to cover a region of the wearer defined between a waist and a pubic symphysis of the wearer such that a bottom of the padding section is located such that the padding section covers the pubic symphysis and the padding section extends towards the waist.
 2. The clothing article of claim 1 further comprising: a width of said padding section smaller than a height of said padding section.
 3. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein said padding section is disposed between two layers of fabric and said padding section further comprising: a base section; a plurality of pad elements extending from said base section such that each of the plurality of pad elements are separated from each other to form a void; wherein the void is between said plurality of pad elements and further located between a top surface of said base section and a top surface of one of said plurality of pad elements.
 4. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein said padding section is disposed between two layers of fabric and said padding section further comprises: a plurality of pad elements joined to at least one of said two layers of fabric such that each of the plurality of pad elements are separated from each other to form a void; wherein the void is between said plurality of pad elements the two layers of fabric.
 5. The clothing article of claim 1 further comprising: two face sections respectively covering left and right front upper thigh regions of the wearer wherein the padding section is disposed between said two face sections and above the crotch section without covering said two face sections.
 6. The clothing article of claim 1 further comprising: a waist section defined at an end of said clothing article and including a lower and an upper edge.
 7. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein said padding section terminates at the lower edge.
 8. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein said padding section terminates between the lower and upper edges.
 9. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein said front face is defined by a seam extending around an edge of said front face wherein said seam joins the front face to said two side sections.
 10. The clothing article of claim 9 wherein said padding section is of an area smaller than the front face.
 11. The clothing article of claim 9 wherein a second seam is disposed in said front face and located around said padding section such that an outer layer of fabric is joined to said front face at said second seam and said padding section is located between the outer layer of fabric and said front face.
 12. The clothing article of claim 1 wherein said padding section includes a pad, the pad made of a compressible material having a glass transition temperature which is strain rate dependent such that when the pad is compressed, the glass transition temperature increases to thereby increase a rigidity of the pad.
 13. A method of protecting a weight lifter during a weight lifting exercise comprising: providing a clothing article with fabric adapted to be disposed over front, rear, side and crotch sections of the weight lifter; providing a front mounted protective pad on said clothing article, the pad extending from the front of the clothing article and positioned over a location on the weight lifter such that when the weight lifter holds a bar with arms extended downward, the bar extends across a torso of the weight lifter and the pad is located between the torso of the weight lifter and the bar; compressing the pad upon contact with the bar, the compression of the pad reducing a magnitude of a force impulse against the weight lifter at the location due to contact with the bar.
 14. The method of claim 13 wherein the weight lifting exercise is a snatch exercise and said compressing step occurs during a phase of the snatch exercise where the bar is closest to the torso of the weight lifter.
 15. The method of claim 13 further comprising: providing a waist band on the clothing article having upper and lower edges.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein said front mounted protective pad extends from the location and terminates at the lower edge.
 17. The method of claim 15 wherein said front mounted protective pad extends from the location and terminates between the upper and the lower edge.
 18. The method of claim 13 wherein the contact with the bar occurs over a vertical contact line such that the location extends along the contact line.
 19. A method of protecting a human's pelvic region during an exercise, the method comprising: providing a clothing article with fabric adapted to be disposed over front, rear, side and crotch sections of the human; providing a front mounted protective pad on said clothing article, the pad extending from the front of the clothing article and positioned over a location on the human such that when contact with a longitudinal object disposed across a torso of the human occurs during the exercise, the pad is located between the torso of the human and the longitudinal object; compressing the pad upon the contact with the longitudinal object, the compression of the pad reducing a magnitude of a force impulse against the human at the location due to the contact with the longitudinal object. 